Being a student, I don't have a lot of cash, but I LOVE giving my friends edible gifts.. And I know I'm not alone. I also have a bunch of exams in december (4 big ones.. ouch!) and because of that, time is an issue. Again, pretty sure I'm not alone.

How about marmalade (or jam, if you don't like the bitter stuff)? For several years now, we have made many, many jars of marmalade for gifts. It costs very little, makes the house smell like heaven while, and is without exception the best marmalade I've ever tasted (I can say this with modesty since my partner does most of the actual work; I mostly do the chopping, canning, and cleanup). Best of all, many of our friends look forward to their annual jar(s), so it's become a nice tradition for us: festive and seasonal, without entailing a trip to some hellish retail outlet.

My mother started giving out to her co-workers homemade seasoning mixes a few years ago. She made different kinds of rubs and taco seasonings and put them in pretty little jars. To a few close friends she made homemade vanilla. Every year now starting in December people ask if she's making her rubs. They just love them.

I made saltine toffee and pignoli cookies for my boyfriend last year, and then forgot both of them when I drove to NYC to see him. Oh well. My mother said they were delicious.

I also made him a bunch of different pickles (brussels sprouts, cherry peppers, and beets), which I didn't forget, and which were fun. I'm shifting away from food gifts this year (and toward ungodly quantities of books...), but I think I'm going to make him a jar of fresh horseradsh sauce and a jar of mustard.

I've had that butter fudge recipe saved for ages, waiting for when I get around to buying a sugar thermometer.

I'm doing food gifts this year. I found a bunch of clip-top Kilner style jars at the 99p shop, so I'm gonna do Isa's cookie jar mix, also gonna do cookies and some chocolates/candies but not sure exactly what yet.

Last year for the work secret santa I gave the gift of mulled wine: a small kilner-style jar filled with layers of brown sugar and the appropriate spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) and an orange studded with cloves. If you buy your spices in big quantities, it can work out really cheap. Looks pretty too.

Holy fork, I just made that butter fudge. It was my first time making "real" fudge (as in no corn syrup, marshmallows, etc) and it turned out perfectly. Except for now I have a tummy ache because I keep sneaking pieces. I sincerely wish I could say it was for a gift, but really, I just missed fudge, haven't had any in a long time and figured cramps were a great excuse to be a little piggy. I could also pretend I was testing it out to make later, but that would also be a total lie.

Anyway, it's great, but a candy thermometer is a must. It took forever to get to the right temperature, so I know I would have pulled it off way too early. Candy making is magical!

Last year for the work secret santa I gave the gift of mulled wine: a small kilner-style jar filled with layers of brown sugar and the appropriate spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) and an orange studded with cloves. If you buy your spices in big quantities, it can work out really cheap. Looks pretty too.

Oh, that's brilliant!

Do you have proportions for the spices and sugar? I've seen so many different recipes, and I dunno... I worry about these kinds of things!

_________________Your heart is a muscle the size of a fistKeep loving, keep fighting

Cookies and cookie mix jars are good ideas, and tonight I thought about gifting cookie dough itself. I finished off a container of Eat Pastry and washed the container so I could refill it someday with my own cookie dough (with or without baking soda/powder, but probably without because I think the point should be to eat cookie dough. The VCIYCJ cookie dough recipe is awesome). Without being too Pinteresty I think the straight-sided glass jars would be perfect for this. Anyway. Just an idea!

I am making chocolate-coffee pillow puffs (basically crescent roll dough with chocolate and liquor baked inside) - score if the dough is on sale, easy chocolate truffles (have not decided on the veg times or cooking tv version - both are similar), snowball cookies, maybe easy cream center chocolate cookies...I try to make things that I can use the same ingredient for multiple times, like powdered sugar so it will not sit here and be wasted.

This sounds magical. Do you make like a chocolate-liquor ganache for the filling?

Yup in a mock double broiler! I dust them with powdered sugar or top them off with slivered almonds. They are simple and a big hit. For the people who do not like alcohol at all or to make them more universal I just fill the crescent rolls with vegan nutella like spread & bake 'em off with the same topping.